Kickstart Her Heart: Meet Jenn Jinks and Her Music…

By now you know of my love of Mom-preneurs and how inspired and in awe I am of them.  Moms are now more than ever recognizing their talents, pursuing their dreams and achieving amazing things..all while still getting the kids off to school, making quesadillas for lunch and keeping things running on the homefront.

NOT an easy feat.

And now add the rigors of the music industry into this mix, and you’ll understand why I find mom of four, Jenn Jinks, quite the rockstar — literally and figuratively.

Jenn has performed all over the world as a singer, and calls the Raleigh, North Carolina area home.  But I know her from her Jersey days, and I’m thrilled to share this interview with you, as she embarks upon laying down the tracks to her very first album.

Warning:  you very well may be motivated or inspired to Kickstart something of your own after reading this!

Enjoy!

 10 Questions for Mom-preneur Jenn Jinks:

1. I know you just about 10 years but my readers do not — give us a quick snapshot on your professional and personal background:

Has it been ten years already!?! Lies!  We are not that old!! LOL  I’m a wife, mom of four, youth minister, vocalist, and songwriter, currently living in the greater Raleigh, North Carolina area.  I have a degree in vocal performance with a minor in music business from New York University, over fifteen years of experience in Youth Ministry, and twenty years of professional vocal experience.  My current day job is the Coordinator of Youth Ministry at a large church in North Raleigh.

2. Tell me about your choice to move ahead with making your own album.  What does it mean to you as a mother and a musician to see this come to fruition?

It has been my lifelong dream to be a recording artist and performer.  The timing never seemed right – something big was always happening: a career change, a move, the birth of a child.  When we moved to North Carolina four years ago, I began to meet people that started to help me along my journey and as I prayed about it, I realized that the timing was never going to be “perfect.”  Life doesn’t wait for us to catch up!  I also thought about the kind of woman I wanted to model for my children, especially my two little girls.  I want them to be fearless in pursuing whatever they are passionate about and I want to be their first and best example of this.

3. Do your children understand what you’re working on? What are their reactions?  What do you hope that they learn from your experience?

It has been such a ball to share this musical journey with them.  They are my biggest (little) fans.  Some of my favorite moments are spent at the piano, writing or practicing music, with them next to me.  I love to give them manuscript paper and they “write” their own music.  Then we give “concerts” for each other.  They are also very excited to see pictures of themselves in my Kickstarter video.  I think they feel like they are little rock stars!

4. Have you read Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In?  ‘Cause it sounds like you might have…

I have not yet read Ms. Sandberg’s book, although sometimes I feel like I have because I have heard such great things about it!  Being a working mom of four trying to record an album does not leave me with much free time for anything.  That being said, I’m flying to Arizona in a few weeks to record the album and I’m taking the book with me for the plane!

5. As a follow up to quest 4 — and even if you did not read it — describe the role of your support system, and the importance of having a loving, supportive husband who “gets it.”

I think having a great network of support is probably the most necessary thing for my success. When I had my first child, my son, James, about seven years ago, I thought that the mark of a good mom was being able to do everything on my own.  I tried to be perfect at everything – the breastfeeding, the baby outfits, the housekeeping, the romantic evenings with my husband, the career I was trying to establish for myself… I never wanted to ask for help and thought I should be good enough and strong enough to go it alone. Honestly, it’s a wonder I didn’t have a nervous breakdown.  The thing is, my world is full of wonderful people, family and friends, who want to see me succeed and are willing to support me in a great variety of ways.  It is the mark of a good family member and friend for me to ALLOW them to help me.  It signals trust and love and it allows them to share in my joys and successes!  So now, I make that circle of support as wide as I can and we help carry each other.  My life is so much richer for it.  And my husband…there are no words to describe how loving and supportive he has been through all of this.  I am so very blessed!

6. If you can dream it, you can do it. So what does the year 2017 hold for Jenn Jinks?  What would you like to see happen professionally/personally in the next 3-5 years?

I see myself on my way to releasing my third original album and touring to promote it.  I’d like to hear my songs played on national CCM radio.  And perhaps on my way to publishing a book, too!  My husband and I have also talked about adopting children in the future, so who knows how big our family will be!

7. Tell me more about your music — I understand that you are writing, producing and performing all of your own material.  Describe your process…

The music I write is about my faith and about how good God has been to me.  My inspiration often comes from just being aware of the things around me and seeing the beauty in the everyday.  As far as creative process, I always keep my Moleskine nearby to jot down ideas.  The QuickVoice app on my iPhone has been extraordinarily helpful for capturing ideas for tunes, especially when I’m driving.  I also think it’s really important to create a physical space for yourself to be creative.  I have two in our home – our piano on the first floor and our guest room.  Whatever space you are using, it should be a place where you are relaxed and can be inspired.  You should surround yourself with whatever makes you happy in these spaces.  I think that really helps the creative process.

8. Crowd-funding seems to be all the rage these days. Describe your experience with Kickstarter thus far, and what tips might you share with a budding Mom-prenuer out there who may be looking to crowd-fund her own dream.

1. Have a plan – who are you going to ask to fund you?  How are they going to hear about it?

2. Give a lot of attention to your “pitch.”  Take the time to write a nice video script, enlist the help of some talented friends to make a professional-quality video, and make the video to the point: who are you? what are you hoping to achieve? why are you doing this?  what do you need?

3. Be persistent in your outreach about your project and don’t give up!

4. Be prepared for an emotional roller coaster and buy tissues. When you put yourself totally out there, it’s nerve-wracking.  Each day is different – maybe some days you don’t get any pledges and some days you jump 5%.

5. Set a reasonable goal.  Do some math (or find someone who is good an analysis) and find out how much you actually need to fund your project, how many people you need to reach, what a reasonable average pledge is, etc…

6. Have a backup plan.  Sometimes crowd-funding works, and sometimes it doesn’t.  It doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.  Prepare yourself for the possibility that you may not succeed – but ONLY in funding the project through Kickstarter.  Have a plan B.  You can do it!

9. Where do you get your inspiration and motivation from?  Do you ever want to give up sometimes? What pulls you through?

I’ve always been a driven, type-A personality.  I think from early on, my parents instilled that “can-do” value in me.  There are days that seem impossible, though, and that I just want to stay in bed forever.  When I have days like that, first I allow myself a little “wallow” time.  We all need it.  Mine varies, depending on the crisis, but never more than a day.  Then I try to be self-aware enough to assess why I’m feeling what I’m feeling and where it is actually coming from.  The majority of the time, it’s about something totally different from my project that is just seeping into other areas of my life.  After my wallow time, I make a plan of concrete action items that I can achieve to bring myself out of the rut.  Then, I go find my kids and give them the biggest hugs and kisses.  We’ll get ice cream or play a game and that usually helps put things in perspective!  I also pray – a lot.  It’s important to make that quiet time to recharge.  Even if you’re not a prayerful person, no matter what your beliefs, I think you need some kind of still time to center yourself.

10. Anything else you’d like to add???

I think in the world we live in, as women, it’s really easy to be negative, to look at others with envy, to focus on all the things we aren’t, and to live our lives trying to please everyone else.  But at the end of the day, what really matters is us and our families.  What makes us happy?  What give us deep, lasting joy?  I think if we focus on finding out what those things are and pursuing them, we will all be successful!

Connect with Jenn Jinks via the links below — and tell her mom a la mode sent ya. oxox

Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/419441755/jenn-jinks-original-debut-album

SoundCloud (free streaming music): https://soundcloud.com/jennjinks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennjinksmusic

Twitter: @jennjinksmusic

YouTube: Jenn Jinks Music channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTdvr4tUhDyEQvhx2740J8w

{I was not compensated in any way for this post.  All opinions expressed here are solely mine.}